THE biggest portion
of the Indonesian population around 241 million in 2011 is farmers. But this
fact is not counterbalanced by the fact that food shortage is affecting 100
regencies in Indonesia or around 25 million people are facing famine.
Unproductive lands is one of the root problems as so often seen in East Nusa
Tenggara and Kalimantan
Another glaring problem is the weak purchasing power of the
locals. Food may be abundant but they are out of reach for the poor. Lack of
knowledge to process traditional food has quite often become the hurdle,
especially in the eastern part of Indonesia where the culinary methods are not
yet as sophisticated as those of Java and Bali. In East Nusa Tenggara, for
example, people in rural areas usually mixed corn and beans for protein since
they could not afford meat. But the invasion of modern culture has made them
inclined to eat more meat.
As a result, their knowledge of traditional food processing
using locally available materials is gradually fading. Muhamad Syukri, a
researcher from the Smeru Research Institute told Tempo: "Regional food
resilience is people's way of adapting to local conditions a [kind of] strategy
whereby they make use of available resources," he said. The government,
according to Syukri, is for sure incapable of fulfilling national rice supply.
Therefore, locals' efforts to organize village grain storages as in Tampumia
village, South Sulawesi must be supported.
Since 2009, the Tampumia residents are accustomed to deposit
50 kilograms of their crops to the village silo. The reserve is used to fund
village activities as well as for food reserve. "The asset is now worth
Rp40 million," said Tampumia village head, Mustika Sanggana. The tradition
of communal silo has earned Tampumia the Pioneer Village for National Food
Resilience 2011 award.
Syukri emphasized that many regions need to realize that rice
is not the only edible crop. Regions in the eastern part of Indonesia, for
example, have a diverse range of traditional food but most of them have been
forgotten. In Adonara Island, East Nusa Tenggara, Maria Loretta, 41, encouraged
local farmers to cultivate again local cereals such as sorghum, barley and
millet. A number of farmers claimed to Tempo that their food supply is secure
for a year. When they relied only on rice their food stock lasted only for six
to eight months. "Now they no longer depend on rice alone," said
Loretta.
In Alor, East Nusa Tenggara, Orpa Ruth Naomi Sir, a
junior-high teacher introduced to the locals creative ways to process local
food materials via school lessons. "We have many raw food materials but
lack of knowledge on how to process them," she said. Owing to her
dissemination of her knowledge, the Alor people now have mastered methods of
processing local edible crops and produce into healthy and nutritious foods.
Syukri viewed efforts made by those local groups fit
perfectly with the food diversification policy. Other than efforts to seek
alternative food besides rice, diversification can also mean that people do not
rely merely on production processes. They are also capable of maintaining the
food supply for a longer period of time, for example, through communal silo.
The Map of Food Scarcity published by Indonesia's Ministry of
Agriculture and the United Nations World Food Program in 2009 indicated that
food resilience in Indonesia has improved since the early 2000s. Agricultural
yields increased by 4.8 percent in 2008. Since 2003, 26 provinces have
succeeded in lowering their poverty rate. In short, there has been progress
although the government still has much to do.
A number of regencies in Papua and Riau, Riau Islands, Jambi,
Central Kalimantan, part of Maluku and North Maluku still suffer from grain
shortages. Sustainability has also become a huge issue. The Central Bureau of
Statistics recorded that although the proportion of poor people has decreased,
the number of near-poor people is still very high. In 2001 their number
increased by 5 million bringing the total number of near-poor people to 27.12
million, or more than 10 percent of Indonesia's total population. "[This
group] is vulnerable to be poor again as their access to food is being
threatened," pointed out Syukri.
Issue: 17/12, December 27, 2011
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